Herman Baertschiger Jr. is an American Republican politician from Oregon who is the chair and a member of the

Josephine County Josephine County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 88,090. The county seat is Grants Pass. The county is named after Virginia Josephine Rollins (1834–1912), a settler who was t ...

Board of Commissioners. He previously served in the

Oregon State Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the State legislature (United States), statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. Ther ...

from 2013 to 2021, representing the 2nd district. He was elected in 2012 and served as minority leader of the Oregon state senate from 2019 to 2021. Baertschiger served on the Senate Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue. During the 2013–2015 legislative biennium session, Baertschiger vice-chaired the Senate Committee on Rural Communities and Economic Development and served on the Senate Committee on General Government, Consumer and Small Business Protection.

Business career and personal life

Baertschiger is the head of the forestry-based HB Company, Inc., and runs a small ranch near

Grants Pass Grants Pass is a city in and the county seat of Josephine County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on Interstate 5 in Oregon, Interstate 5, northwest of Medford, Oregon, Medford, along the Rogue River (Oregon), Rogue River. The populatio ...

. He has three sons and was married to Leta, who died in 2017.

Political career

Originally, Baertschiger faced a possible primary challenges from state senator

Jason Atkinson Jason Atkinson (born November 6, 1970) is an American politician in the US state of Oregon. A member of the Republican party, Atkinson served as a senator in the Oregon State Senate from 2001 until 2013. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican ...

and state representative Wally Hicks, but both men withdrew before filing. James Diefenderfer, a Democratic Party candidate, filed a last-minute challenge, but was defeated by an almost two-to-one margin. In May and June 2019, state Senate Republicans staged two walkouts, denying quorum in an effort to stop a gross receipts business tax bill and a gas and energy tax bill, aimed to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The Senate holds 30 seats, but 1 is vacant due to a death. Without the Republican senators, the remaining 18 Democratic state senators could not reach a quorum of 20 to hold a vote. In 2020 he declined to run for reelection. Baertschiger was elected

Commissioner in May 2020.

Electoral history

References

External links

County legislative website

Senate legislative website

Campaign website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Baertschiger, Herman Jr. Businesspeople from Oregon Living people Republican Party Oregon state senators 21st-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly People from Grants Pass, Oregon Place of birth missing (living people) Ranchers from Oregon Year of birth missing (living people)